As vehicle windshields have become more aerodynamic, they have become more difficult to wipe. Coefficients of drag can be lowered by steeply raking the windshield, sweeping it back dramatically so that it slices the air, rather than buffeting it. As a consequence, the windshield becomes relatively much longer, measured from top to bottom, as compared to its side to side width. There is a vertical area in front of the driver's line of sight that must, by regulation, be wiped. This is the so called legal area. Conventional wiper systems have one or more oscillating wipers pivoted at points near the lower windshield edge. With short, conventionally sized windshields, relatively short wipers are sufficient to wipe the legal area. With long, swept back windshields, extremely long wipers must sometimes be used to wipe the same effective vertical area. With even more steeply raked windshields in the future, it might not be possible to make conventionally located wipers long enough to wipe a sufficient area of the windshield.